I want to tell you about my last trip to Paris, an enchanting city that never fails.
It’s really true: Paris is always a good idea and in this article I want to be your special guide.
Although I’ve seen Paris for the fifth time, I’ve savored a new essence. Perhaps for the first time we have lived it more from Parisians and less from tourists, enjoying more the rhythms of the city, and not of usual maps and itineraries.
I took the opportunity to celebrate Giacomo’s birthday to organize a trip in the most romantic city in the world.
We have taken more than 5,000 photos in just 5 days, and it was really difficult to select them, because I wanted you to relish the essence that I had caught in all its entirety, day by day.
In this article I will tell you what we have done and which are the top places to see in Paris, so that it becomes your practical guide and a little less commercial than those you find online.
The first night as soon as we arrived we went for a walk to the Louvre, which is right next to our hotel, walking through the gardens.
We stayed in the center, on Rue Cambon, so we can often walk on foot.
We spent the whole first day to Disneyland Paris, Luna kept us so much to go and I really like it too. We stayed there all day long, having fun with Mickey Mouse and the Disney characters.
The day after we started to go around the City, but enjoying the streets and neighborhoods of Paris, as well as bistros and restaurants for lunch, which became very pleasant breaks between a walk, a visit and a museum. After different years I really wanted to return to the Musee D’Orsay, which remains the most beautiful museum in the world for me, and bring Luna in that unique place.
The collection of impressionist painters is substantial and there was a collection that I will never get tired of looking.
Even the museum is a very suggestive place, an old Parisian station all made of metal with a large clock that determines the depth of the museum and remains the primary element.
Hereafter, I invite you to put the Luis Vuitton foundation in your ‘Travelling List’ in Paris.
Don’t think it’s a set of bags and trunks.
Only the structure is definitely stunning, if you like the contemporary architectural style, because it is by Frank Gehry, one of my favorite living architects.
The structure is all made of glass, steel and cement and it is incredible, every time I’m in one of his real works (of art for me), I always wonder how he can only think and draw all those beams and pillars that look like airplanes…imagine drawing and achieve them.
The installations that I found inside were by contemporary artists and also a part was dedicated to Murakami, famous by us Westerners for its flowers.
And how not to photograph them and make me photograph with his flowers? Even Murakami is a contemporary Japanese artist that I particularly like.
We walked for hours on the Seine, the Pont Neuf is as such and as I remember it, always so romantic, with its old books and views of the Parisian bridges.
On the other side of the bridge there is Notre Dame, and even if you find the row to enter, I absolutely suggest you to cross the gothic cathedral door, perhaps the most famous in the world.
We were very lucky, while we were in line, lasted not even ten minutes, the bells began to ring, warning that the Mass is starting.
At the moment we entered it began…with these wonderful songs and the incense scattered in the cathedral I found a magical atmosphere, as if I’d been catapulted back in time.
Recrossing over the bridge and having another walk, you’ll find yourself at the Pompidou Center.
We did not enter because I have seen it many times before, but we have explored the streets with the same curiosity of the past and we stopped at the square near the Pompidou Center where there are the fountains with the colorful sculptures that you can see on my Board.
My advice for when you see the Pompidou Center is to turn around it, because only on the back you can delight yourselves with the colored vertical tubes that characterize the work of 3 architects including Renzo Piano.
The next day we had lunch at Caffè Marly where you can admire all the beauty of the crystal pyramid.
After lunch we went to the Louvre and walked around inside, not accessing the entrance to the museum, where we have already been several times, but seeing all the expansion of the shops, which over the years seems to have become a small underground district.
In the Museum Shops I always buy particular things that I like very much, often objects of common use but of design.
The walk to the Champs Elysees is always pleasant, large shops to the right and left of the road that leads to the Arc de Triomphe. The Defense Arch (the new district) and the smaller arch located in the square in front of the Louvre.
Between a visit and a walk we entertained ourselves in the Parisian patisseries and Angelina remains my favorite, situated in Rue de Rivoli.
Don’t forget to visit the Opera and also make it coincide with a little bit shopping in Galeries Lafayette, that apart from the classic international brands, it also has all the French ones. It will amaze you to know that on the top floor has a panoramic terrace on Paris to take your breath away.
For my husband Giacomo’s birthday, I organized a dinner on the Eiffel Tower, but as you know in the travels I’m quite organized and I booked a month in advance, despite this we were on the waiting list and only after a few days, fortunately they confirmed the table. Eating on the Eiffel Tower is a magical experience!
Being summer the sun sets around 21.30 and at 21 we climbed the tower and we saw the sunset and the city that lit up…the lights come on, the Seine looks mirrored and from 22 onwards the tower begins to sparkle for a few minutes, and this happens every hour. The lighting makes it all of gold.
To get to the Eiffel Tower leave in Trocadero, there is the best view on the Tower of the whole city of Paris and when you go down the steps that pass you will end up in the gardens of Trocadero with fountains that make water games where it is worth passing , even if like me, you do it with heels! You can do it! 😉
Do not leave Paris without having passed through Montmartre, the artists’ quarter, where there is the white church of the Sacred Heart. There are so many streets behind where you can turn around, so let’s take at least 3 hours to enjoy every corner of this neighborhood. The square of the artists is charming and there are always very good artists who paint on the spot and I would be watching them for hours and hours. I had Luna make the typical black and white profile cut by hand in a few minutes and we walked far and wide without rush, taking pictures at every corner.
From many points you can enjoy a beautiful view of the whole of Paris, and even here, don’t miss to do an entire photo shoot for your memories, that is what we have done extensively.
Another place to be seen is the Institute of the Arab World, a cultural center, with a café inside. The peculiarity of the architect Jean Nouvel is the 240 windows that, like in a camera, through the photoelectric cell system, regulate the lighting of the building.
Even here you can admire one of the most beautiful views of Paris.
If you like art do not forget the dozens of galleries scattered around the city, while if you like the pictures know that in 5 days we have made about 5,000, and the ones I selected for the Paris travel album, that I’ve done as soon as I came back home, were 430, so you will be able to capture magical places.
If you, like me, are cheese lovers, there are some ‘Formaggerie’ where you can taste them, the most famous is that of Laurent Dubois.
For summer evenings, let’s book a terrace overlooking Paris where you can sip French bubbles and enjoy the spectacle of a sparkling Paris with the people you love and then Paris will be even more beautiful.
To complete the Paris tour it is essential to see:
Rue Saint Honorè for the beautiful shops
Alexandre III Bridge
Petit palais and Grand Palais
Les Invalides (where lies the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte)
La Madeleine
Place de la Concorde
The gardens of LuxembourgThe Louvre
And if you have children, Paris will not stop enchanting them either, but you will absolutely have to take them to Disneyland Paris, taking the comfortable Rer (a little train) that will leave you directly at the park.
Or if you have just a few days to turn it all over, I suggest you to take a couple of hours, the day you will go to visit the Luis Vuitton Foundation for the D’’acclimatation Garden of which you will already have access with the foundation ticket. It is a beautiful children’s park, with many attractions, beautiful gardens, some animals and also games/rides (but for those you will have to buy a separate ticket compared to that of the foundation) but it’s worth it. That’s my Paris!
Here you are the download link for the Travel List that I use to dream and plan my next goals and check them one by one. Let’s try to use it to plan your travels:
https://www.etsy.com/it/listing/624360383/travelling-wish-list-silver-flower-todo
And if you decide to leave, don’t forget “My packing list “: https://www.etsy.com/it/listing/616937278/my-packing-list-silver-flower-todo-list
See you next time…with Style! Definitely yours!
Viviana Grunert
